My family has all sorts of different views so I understand why my niece was hesitant to come out. When she came out to me I thanked her for telling me and I loved her no matter what and we carried on with our normal conversation. Well some of my family members were upset with my reaction. They thought I didn’t give her enough “praise” or I wasn’t proud of her. Truth is I know my niece very well and I know how she feels about these things. She doesn’t like the spotlight and doesn’t like things to be about her. When she told me she was gay I remembered instantly how she didn’t think that people should be “proud” or call gay people “hero’s” just in the same way that people call plus sized people “brave”. That’s who they are and it doesn’t make them any better than “straight” people because they’re all the same. (These were her words) I didn’t want her to feel like she was telling me this because she wanted gratification I knew she was telling me just because she wanted me to know. I’m proud of her for being able to come out and I’m proud of her for not being afraid for who she is! But being gay is just a part of her just like anything else and I want her to feel normal. I tried to tell my family this... as I could tell they carried the conversation way too long and my niece looked uncomfortable and they said I just didn’t understand.

Edit: my niece didn’t mind my reaction. She was uncomfortable with everyone making a big deal out of it. She wants it to be normalized and doesn’t want extra attention just because she is gay